LINCOLN SQUARE — Chicago Police detectives Friday laid out a damning case against a 19-year-old charged in the murder of a cab driver — "disturbing" video of the shooting, a cigarette pack with the teen's fingerprint and the fact the teen was still carrying the alleged murder weapon when he was caught.
After being ordered held without bail Friday, the alleged killer, Lamon Weathers, 19, turned as he was led out of the courtroom and said, "All of y'all have a nice day. Drive safe. Bless y'all."
Kamil Shamji's murder stunned the Lincoln Square area after his body was found early Monday in a cab parked behind the Sulzer Regional Library. Police said that's where the 59-year-old father of two was slain.
Managing Editor Shamus Toomey talks about the technology that helped police capture the suspect in the Kamil Shamji slaying.
He had picked up Weathers, of West Ridge, at a Rogers Park McDonald's about 10:50 p.m. Sunday and driven him to the 4400 block of North Leavitt Street, prosecutors said.
Weathers allegedly shot Shamji in the head as Shamji waited to collect a fare for the short ride.
Weathers then stole a tablet, cellphone and the in-cab surveillance camera before running off, Assistant State's Attorney Jamie Santini said during a bond hearing Friday.
Police were able to identify Weathers as the shooter using "disturbing video" of Shamji being slain and a fingerprint match from a cigarette package found on the back seat of Shamji's cab, police said at a news conference Friday.
Weathers was arrested at a Metra station in suburban Joliet. According to Santini, Weathers was still wearing the "distinctive coat" he wore during the murder — and carrying a .32 caliber gun that matched bullets and shell casings collected at the scene.
Weathers on Friday was charged with first-degree murder.
"You pose a threat and a danger to everybody in this city that goes out and walks around," Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. told Weathers during a bond hearing Friday. "No bail."
According to prosecutors, Weathers called Flash Cab about 10:48 p.m. Sunday to request a pick-up at a Rogers Park McDonald's at 6749 N. Clark St. Video footage captured Weathers placing the call while wearing "distinctive" clothing, Santini said.
Shamji arrived at the McDonald's about 10:50 p.m. and drove Weathers to the 4400 block of North Leavitt Street, where video surveillance inside the cab clearly captured Weathers' face, prosecutors said.
That same video shows Weathers pulling out a gun and shooting Shamji in the right side of his head, Santini said. The cab then rolled forward and stopped on a curb.
Weathers can be seen on video reaching into the front area of the cab, pulling open the center console and turning off the car's ignition. That turned off the surveillance system, prosecutors said.
Police found Shamji about 7:55 a.m. Monday with a single gunshot wound to the right side of his head. Officers recovered a spent .32 caliber shell casing, a .32 caliber bullet and a pack of cigarettes, Santini said.
According to prosecutors, police were able to match a fingerprint from the cigarette box to Weathers, who has previous juvenile convictions for making a false report, domestic battery, destruction of evidence, obstruction and aggravated battery of an official.
Eugene Roy, chief of detectives, said CTA footage of Weathers taking public transportation were used to track his whereabouts after the shooting. Police said Weathers got on an "L" and later took a bus.
Though Weathers stole the cab's camera, he left behind a sim card that police officials were able to use in their investigation, Chicago Police detective Kevin Duffin said.
“The video was fairly shocking,” Duffin said.“The driver tells him [Weathers] what the fare is, he begins to pull out money, puts it back and turns around and shoots him.”
READ MORE: Driver Found Shot Dead in Lincoln Square Warned Fellow Cabbies of Robberies
Assistant Public Defender Margaret Domin said Weathers has been a ward of the state for the past two years. He has a 2-year-old daughter who lives with her mother in Florida, and had been taking GED classes and looking for a job.
The possibility of getting robbed by a fare was something Shamji was well aware of. In fact, he used to warn fellow cabbies "'you will get robbed some day,'" said Sohail Ghaziani, his closest Chicago friend. "Give him the money and let them walk away."
Shamji moved to Chicago decades ago from Karachi, Pakistan by way of the Netherlands, according to Ghaziani.
Shamji raised his stepdaughter and daughter after his wife died of cancer 15 years ago. His children are now adults.
At the time of his death, Shamji lived with a roommate in a Rogers Park apartment.
"He was a great guy," Ghaziani said. "He was my friend. More like my brother."
Ghaziani said he learned of his friend's death after receiving a Monday morning call from Flash Cab, the company that managed the cab Shamji was driving. Ghaziani and Shamji became close friends while driving the same car for the company years ago.
A company official said that Shamji was "a fabulous human being who no one said anything bad about." He was dispatched after 10:50 p.m. Sunday to Clark Street and Pratt Avenue to pick up a fare who had called for a ride, Ghaziani said.
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